A first consignment of around 500 doses of Ronapreve is expected to be delivered before the end of year 2021, stated the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, this afternoon, in the National Assembly.

He was replying to a Private Notice Question pertaining to the quantities of Ronapreve and Molnupiravir presently in stock at his Ministry and to the orders placed for same.

Minister Jagutpal highlighted that Ronapreve is a drug which has recently been developed by F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd, commonly known as Roche, and is still under licence by the Manufacturer. Ronapreve, he reminded, has been approved for use in the European Union, Japan, and in the United Kingdom, and is authorised for emergency or temporary pandemic use in more than 50 countries.

He underscored that, as part of the various measures being implemented to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trade and Therapeutic Committee of his Ministry recommended the emergency use of Ronapreve for the treatment of COVID-19 positive patients. Subsequently, the recommendation was approved by the Pharmacy Board.

The Technical Committee, underscored Dr Jagutpal, agreed that the estimated quantity of Ronapreve required for the Public Sector stands at 3,000 doses. The Ministry of Health and Wellness also had consultations with the representatives of private health institutions, who estimated their requirement for Ronapreve at 150 doses. Accordingly, the Ministry entered into a purchase agreement and non-disclosure agreement with Roche on 01 December 2021 for the supply of 1,575 packs, equivalent to 3,150 doses of Ronapreve to cater for both public and private health institutions, he added.

With regards to Molnupiravir capsules, he stated that, following a correspondence dated 25 October 2021 from Dr Reddy’s Manufacturing Company to the effect that it had been granted the license by MERCK to manufacture Molnupiravir, a first order of 1,2 million capsules for treatment of 30,000 patients was made to the company.  The expected time of delivery was second to third week of December 2021. However, he stressed, a request has been made with the supplier to expedite delivery and the consignment is expected today.

Moreover, the Health Minister indicated that in anticipation of a probable increase in the number of COVID-19 patients, his Ministry has sought, as from 24 November 2021, quotations for the immediate supply of 800,000 capsules for 20,000 patients from all five registered suppliers in India. “Consequently, new orders were placed and, on 07 December 2021, my Ministry received a consignment of 1 million Molnupiravir capsules from CPN Distributors Ltd in Mauritius, while another consignment of 800,000 capsules from Pharmacie Seegobin Ltd is awaited by 15 December 2021”, he said.

He also remarked that on 15 November 2021, his Ministry was informed by representatives of Pfizer of a new antiviral drug. In this respect, they proposed to schedule a briefing session in relation to this new drug and requested that a Confidential Disclosure Agreement be signed prior to the meeting, he conceded.

Speaking about the number of sequencing tests performed on positive-tested passengers arriving in Mauritius, Minister Jagutpal underlined that from 27 November 2021 to 09 December 2021, 23,380 passengers arrived in Mauritius, out of which 24 have been tested PCR positive.

As per established protocol, he observed, sequencing test on two passengers who arrived on 27 November 2021 from South Africa have been completed today. He further underpinned that one of the passengers showed an S-gene target failure and, on further sequencing, was confirmed for Omicron variant, while the other was confirmed for Delta variant. The sequencing results for nine other passengers, namely from South Africa (7), Congo (1), and Nigeria (1) who have shown S-gene target failure are awaited, he added.

In addition, he informed that a local case of Omicron variant linked to a passenger from South Africa has also been confirmed. According to him, both patients detected with Omicron were fully vaccinated, have been asymptomatic during the quarantine period, have undergone exit PCR tests, and have been discharged.